1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an energy management control system for handling a side impact upon an automotive vehicle body.
2. Disclosure Information
As the quest for more sophisticated automotive collision energy management systems continues, side impact considerations persist. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has proposed a test using a heavy (1,500 kgs) barrier which would be impacted into the bodyside of the vehicle at 50 kph. This test presents a severe challenge to the bodyside structure of a vehicle because of the crushing force and energy which would be imposed upon the vehicle during the test. The proposed test thus presents an issue to designers concerned with the construction of an affordable body system capable of generating large resistance forces to oppose an incoming IIHS barrier, but at an affordable cost.
The present system takes advantage of the strength inherent in the frame rails and body cross members found on conventional body and frame vehicles to reduce the intrusion of the IIHS barrier into the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
An automotive body includes a floor pan upon which a seat is mounted, a door for accessing a passenger compartment, and a cross member attached to the floor pan and extending laterally under the floor pan. A longitudinally extending frame rail underlies the floor pan and the cross member and is connected with one end of a flexible tensile member fastened between the frame rail and the cross member such that lateral displacement of the door, the floor pan, and the cross member relative to the frame rail resulting from a side impact upon the door will be arrested by the flexible tensile member. The body structure further includes an outer rocker panel abutted by the door when the door is in a closed position, and an inner rocker panel which is joined to the outer rocker panel and to the floor pan. The door displaces the inner and outer rocker panels, as well as the floor pan and the cross member in response to a crushing side impact upon the door, such that the flexible tensile member is placed under tension by lateral displacement of the cross member relative to the frame rail.
The flexible tensile member is normally in an untensioned state, but is transitioned to a tensioned state in response to the lateral displacement of the door such that impact driven deformation of the door and floor pan is limited.
The flexible tensile member has a first end and a second end, with the first end being fastened to the frame rail, and a second end attached to an inboard location of the cross member.
The attachment of the flexible tensile member to the frame rail may be located upon either an inboard face of the frame rail, or upon an outboard face of the frame rail. In either case, the tensile member will pass inboard of the frame rail and extend generally horizontally and inboard to a fastening location upon the cross member.
The flexible tensile member used in the present system may comprise either a non-metallic or metallic cable, or other types of flexible tensile members, both metallic and non-metallic, as well as composites known to those skilled in the art and suggested by this disclosure.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for limiting the deformation of an automotive vehicle body in response to a laterally directed impact load includes the steps of providing a passenger compartment door abutting a rocker panel assembly when the door is in a closed position, with the rocker panel assembly being joined to a floor pan of the passenger compartment, and providing at least one cross member attached to the floor pan and extending laterally under the floor pan. The present method further includes the steps of providing a frame rail extending longitudinally under the floor pan and under the cross member, and, finally providing a flexible tensile member extending inboard from the frame rail to the cross member, with the flexible tensile member having a first end fastened to the frame rail and the second end fastened to the cross member such that the tensile member will be caused to transition from a normally untensioned state to a tensioned state in the event that the door, the rocker panel assembly and the floor pan are subjected to crushing lateral displacement sufficient to displace the cross member relative to the frame rail.
In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of cross members and flexible tensile members will be employed according to the present invention.
It is an advantage of the present invention that a greater side impact load may be resisted with certain automotive vehicle bodies.
It is a further advantage of the present invention that this system allows energy management of a side impact to utilize the resistive strength incorporated in a vehicle""s frame rail.
It is a further advantage of the present invention that a system according to this invention allows a side intrusion body management system to utilize the strength incorporated in underbody cross members, combined with the strength incorporated in vehicle frame rails.
Other advantages, as well as objects and features of the present invention, will become apparent to the reader of this specification.